Machine for shelling peas and beans



March 8, 1949. H. z. STEWART MACHINE FOR SHELLING PEAS AND BEANS Filed March 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR,

10 7- roe/-15 v.5

March 8, 1949.

H. Z. STEWART MACHINE FOR SHELLING PEAS AND BEANS Filed March 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flTTOENEYS Patented Mar. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAGH INEFOR; SHELLING PEAS AND BEA-NS Horace Zell- Stewart, Mobile, Ala.

Application March 28, 1946, Serial No. 657,750

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to machines for shelling peas and beans and has for its general object to produce a machine for the purpose described which will enable peas and beans to be" removed without injury from. their pads; to enable this result to be accomplished both efficiently and expeditiously and. by the use of simple anctinexpensive-mechanism. While susceptible of a wider range of application,. the machine shown herein is particularly useful in'connection with the shelling of tough-podded and elongated. peas orbeans, an instance of such being. the black-eyed pea or cowpea; and it constitutes a modification of the machine show-n, described. and claimed in my Patent No. 2,374,466, issued April 24, 1945.

In the practiceof my invention, thepea or bean isinserted within the sutures in asubstantially vertical plane between front and: rear pairs of upper and lower feed rolls, the front receiving rolls having surfaces which conform respectively more or less to what, for convenience of description, will be referred to herein-after as the top and bottom surfaces of the pod- Peas and beans thus insertedv are. driven by these: rolls? so that their placentas will be brought into engagement. with a knife which. serves to. split the pods along their placentas but without injuring. the fruit attached thereto;. By further movement ofthe feed. rolls, the separated: edges of the pods are progressively spread apart asthe peas or beans are fed by the rolls,.the.fruit being removed from the pods and being conducted. tov asuitable collecting receptacle, as shownv herein.

construction of machine. for realizing the objects of my invention isshown in the drawings hereof, wherein Fig. 1 represents asideelevational view'ofsuch machine, showing an elongated pea or'beanbeing inserted between the receiving. feed rollsyFig; 2 a sectional View taken ontheline 2-2 of Fig; 4 andlooking. in the. direction ofthe arrows; Fig. 3" a sectional. view taken on. the line ofFi'g. 2 and looking in. the direction. of the arrows; Fig; 4 a front el'evat'ionaliview, and Fig.5 a rear el'evationalview. of. the. machine. shown in Fig: I; and'Flg. E a detaillin el'evatlon illustrating the manner in. which. a pea or bean. introduced into my machine. is slit, along its.low er. center or placenta by means of 'a knife and.:a1so illustrating the manner in. which the. sides" of the. pod are spread apart. after. the. splitting operation thereby to assist in freeing thefruit- Describing, by reference characters, the parts shown in. the. aforesaid. drawings, I20r denotes.- opposed side. members. of my machine. the. same being shown asproyided. with baseextensions H mounted upon a suitable base support l2- and secured thereto, as by screws I3; Mounted in what will be referred tohereinafter as the front of the side members are vertically aligned upper and lower shafts l4 and IS, the shaft l4 being journaled in upwardly extending slotted guides l8, and the said shafts being connected adjacent to their ends by coiled springs l1. These shafts support the initial or receiving feed drive rolls l8 and I9 respectively.

The roll I8 is outwardly concave from the opposite ends I8 toward the middle whereby its outer surface approximates that of an annular trough, the operating surface of the roll being roughened to facilitate its feeding action. The lower roll I9 is made up of two sections each diminishing in width or diameter from its exterior toward its interior, a space [9 being provided between the inner ends of said sections.

2!! denotes generally an upper delivery drive roll preferably cylindrical, as shown; and the surface of which is preferably roughened, as shown at 20* in Fig. 5, to facilitate the'feeding and'delivery of the pods.

Cooperating with the roll 20 is a lower delivery feed roll 2|, which is alsocylindrical and provided at its ends with circular disks 2! of. greater diameter than the diameter of roll- 21, the length of the latter roll being such as to enable the lower portion of the roll 20 to be received between the said disks.

The roll 20 is mountedupon a shaft 22, theends of which are journaled in upwardly extending slotted guides 23 in the side members l0,. and the roll 21 is mounted upon a shaft M -arranged vertically beneath the shaft 22'? and the ends of which are journaled in the side members l0. Coiled springs M connect the end portions of the shafts 22 and 24.

25 denotes the base of a bracket which is adjustably secured, as by means of a bolt 26 extending through an: opening provided therefor in one of the side members l0 and through a vertical slot 25 in said base; The bracket is bent inwardly from the top of said base, as shown at 25 and extends to substantially the center of the space between the said side members'whence it is bent upwardly, as shown at 25, the upwardly extending portion being. located rearwardly of but adjacent to the center of the space between the roll sections l9 and. having secured: thereto, as by welding or brazing, one of the vertically extending knife members 'ZTbetWeen which and the cooperating knife member 28 a blade member .29 is supported with its upper edge extending upwardly and forwardly toward the rear of the said space, the members 21 and 28 being connected by means of a short screw bolt extending through the said members, preferably beneath the bottom of the blade 29, whereby the said members are clamped together and against the blade 29, which is inserted between the upper ends of the said members. When these members 2! and 28 are thus clamped together by the screw bolt 30, the front and forward edge of the blade projects forwardly beyond the said members and is located somewhat above the same.

It will be noted, by reference to Fig. 3 in particular, that the upper ends of the knife members 2'5, 28 are jointly of substantially V-shape, forming a forwardly extending V-shaped deflector by which the placenta of a pod which has been split by the blade 29 will be spread outwardly and in a condition to be received between and flattened out by the rolls 20 and 2|. The blade is so positioned with reference to the axial center of the lower receiving roll sections I9 as to cut through the placenta on the pod of a pea or bean which is inserted between these roll sections and the roll I8 but without severing the fruit which it detaches from the placenta while the members 2! and 28 ar also located so that they enter the slit made in the bottom of the pod by the blade and thus impart a preliminary spreading apart of the bottoms of the sides of the pod before the sides are received between the rolls 20 and 2!. In practice, a piece of a discarded razor blade can be utilized as a knife blade. The manner of mounting the blade enables me to adjust it with the precision necessary to enable it to perform its function in an efiicient manner.

The shafts I4 and I5 are provided each at an outer end thereof with a gear 3|, 32, respectively, and the shafts 22 and 24 are provided at corresponding ends with gears 33 and 34, respectively. 35 denotes a gear mounted on a shaft 3-? supported by one of the side members iii, the said gear being located between the gears 3| and 33 and meshing therewith and the shaft 36 being provided with an operating arm or lever 37. 38 denotes a lower gear which is mounted on a shaft 38 supported by the side member Id which supports the shaft 36 and which gear 38 is located intermediate of the gears 32 and 3 and which meshes therewith and with the gear 35.

With the parts constructed and arranged as described, the operation will be as follows: One end of a pea or bean (indicated at A) is inserted into the space provided between the rolls l8 and IS, with the placenta directed downwardly. The operator then rotates the gear 35 by means of the arm 31, which causes the rolls l8 and E9 to drive the pea or bean inwardly with the placenta in engagement with the blade 29, thereby splitting the pea or bean along its placenta, while the members 21 and 28 spread the bottoms of the sides outwardly. Further movement of the pea or bean causes the end portions of the sides of the pod which has been slit to pass between the rolls 2E3 and 2|, the rolls serving not only to assist in driving the pea or bean through the machine, but also serving to spread the sides of the pod completely apart, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3,

and serving further to support successive portions 7 of the sides of the pod in this outspread position, thereby preventing the blade from slicing the fruit; The fruit, having been dislodged from the pod, is delivered upon a forwardly and downlwardly inclined distributing plate 39 which extends between it and is supported by the side members It], the rear end of the said plate being bent upwardly, as shown at 39 in proximity to the roll 2! and the front and lower ends of the said distributing plate being shown as extending downwardly at 39 The fruit discharged from the pod of a pea or bean which has been operated upon in the manner described can be delivered by the said distributing plate into a suitable receptacle, indicated at ift.

The springs 11 and 25 serve to enable the upper and lower receiving and delivery drive rolls to be separated in the event that the pressure exerted between the upper and lower rolls should become excessive, as by inadvertent entry of a pebble or other foreign material therebetween.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that I have produced a machine which is capable of shelling peas or beans having elongated and tough pods and which is also capable of shelling peas or beans which vary greatly in length and which also may be misshapen; It will be evident further that I am enabled to accomplish this result with rapidity and efficiency.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of an upper and a lower receiving feed roll each having a concave surface intermediate of the ends thereof shaped to engage respectively the top and the bottom of the pod of a pea or bean inserted therebetween, an upper and a lower delivery feed roll spaced from the former feed rolls, a knife interposed and supported between the two pairs of rolls and comprising side members and a blade having its operating portion extending upwardly from the said side members, the upper portion of the side members forming jointly a forwardly projecting deflector of substantially V-shape and the upper ends of the said side members and the blade being located above the axis of rotation of the lower receiving feed roll and rearwardly of but adjacent to the central portion of said roll whereby the lower ends of the sides of the pod of a pea or bean passing between the upper and lower receiving feed rolls will be spread apart by said deflector after the placenta shall have been severed by the said blade, the delivery feed rolls being arranged to receive the sides of a pod which have been thus spread apart by the said deflector and to spread the samefurther apart whereby the peas or beans will be delivered from the pod between the receiving and delivery feed rolls; and means for driving the said rolls.

2. In the machine set forth in claim 1, the lower receiving .feed roll comprising two symmetrical sections each of which diminishes in diameter from the end portion thereof toward the central portion thereof, the central portions of the said sections being axially spaced apart and the upper portion of the side members and the operating portion of the blade of the knife being positioned immediately adjacent the said sections, with the operating portion of the blade being located substantially midway between the said sections and extendingat right angles to the axis thereof. 1

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination of opposed side members, an upper shaft and a lower shaft having their ends supported by the said side members, receiving feed rolls mounted on said shafts, the said rollsv each diminishing in diameter from the end portions thereof toward the central portion thereof, an upper shaft and a lower shaft also having their ends supported by said side members and spaced laterally from the former shafts, a delivery feed roll on the upper of the last mentioned shafts, a delivery feed roll mounted on the lower of the last mentioned shafts, a bracket having a base portion vertically adjustably mounted upon one of the side members, the said bracket having a supporting portion extending inwardly from the base portion to a point substantially midway of the length of the receiving feed rolls and between the same and the delivery feed rolls, a knife comprising side members operatively secured to and supported by the inner end of the said supporting portion, and a blade clamped between the said side members with its operating portion extending upwardly from the said side members, the upper portion of the side members forming jointly a forwardly projecting deflector of substantially V-shape located above the axis of rotation of the lower receiving feed roll and rear- Wardly of but adjacent to the central portion of said roll, and means for driving the said rolls.

4. A machine as in claim 3 wherein said upper shafts are received in vertically extending slots formed in said side members, said upper shafts are normally positioned at the lower extremities of said slots, and springs yieldingly retain said upper shafts and rolls carried thereby in association with said lower shafts and rolls carried thereby.

HORACE ZELL STEWART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 722,895 Preston Mar. 17, 1903 727,339 Foster et a1. May 5, 1903 :20 2,374,466 Stewart Apr. 24, 1945 

